AI can absolutely be used to build a website. I use it in my own work — to explore layouts, create more variety between sections while keeping a page cohesive, write image alt text, and work through SEO titles and meta descriptions. I’ve also used it much more deeply than that. It plays a role in some of the internal tools I’ve built for my own business, and in how I process information for offerings like my Customer Insight Report.

So my answer isn’t that AI shouldn’t touch your website. The bigger question is how you’re using it, and what you know well enough to catch when it gets something wrong. That’s where an AI-built website can either work in your favor or hurt you.

AI Can Build a Website, But It Doesn’t Know What You Don’t Tell It

If you already understand how websites are built, know the language, understand the technology you’re working with, and know how to prompt AI well, it can be a genuinely useful option — especially if you’re firmly in the DIY camp.

But there’s an important catch: you need to know enough to recognize when what AI gives you isn’t actually good.

I’ve watched AI make decisions about websites that technically work but aren’t decisions I’d make as a designer. I’ve seen it put a paragraph’s worth of copy into an H1 or H2 because it didn’t understand that a heading isn’t simply a place to put a big block of text. I’ve had it get mobile layouts wrong several times before arriving at something that actually worked.

Then there are all the smaller details that affect how a website feels:

  • Line spacing
  • Letter spacing
  • Typography choices
  • Consistent use of brand colors
  • Heading structure
  • Mobile behavior
  • The flow from one section to another
  • The overall journey through the page
  • Where and when you’re asking someone to take action

Those aren’t just decoration. When I’m working on a website, I’m thinking about what the page is supposed to help someone do — how each section contributes to that goal, and whether the experience makes sense for the person actually using the site. AI can generate a layout. That doesn’t mean it understands why that layout should exist.

AI Is Only Working With What You Give It

One of the bigger problems happens before AI ever starts building the site. What are you feeding it?

  • Do you know your audience?
  • Do you have a defined brand voice?
  • Do you know your color palette and how those colors should be used?
  • Have you made intentional typography choices?
  • Do you know what you want someone to understand or do after visiting the website?

If those foundations aren’t there, AI has to fill in the blanks. And AI likes to guess. The result can look perfectly fine while also looking like it could belong to just about any business.

I’ve even had AI do this with my own business. I was using it to help with copy for part of a page, and it started referring to my business as “we” and “our.” I’m a solo business owner. I specifically don’t write that way. That’s a small example, but it points to the bigger problem — AI didn’t know that decision mattered until I told it.

I’ve also asked AI to help me work through layouts for steps or services. Instead of creating meaningful variety, it started repeating essentially the same idea for every new section. I had to recognize what was happening, stop it, and redirect it. If I had simply accepted what it produced because AI was supposed to be doing the thinking for me, the result would have been very different.

I don’t want AI to replace my brain. I want it to help me use my brain. I still want a human element in what I build — something specific to the business rather than another version of something that’s being replicated everywhere.

Where I Think AI Is Really Useful for Websites

There are places where I’ve found AI genuinely helpful:

  • Exploring layouts and introducing variety throughout a page while keeping everything cohesive
  • Writing alt text for images
  • Working through meta descriptions and SEO titles based on the actual content of the page
  • Troubleshooting technical issues

If something is technically wrong with a website, AI can often do a fairly good job of helping diagnose the issue. But that brings up an important distinction: diagnosing a technical problem isn’t the same thing as diagnosing a business problem.

Can AI Fix Your Website?

Maybe. It depends on what’s actually broken.

If your website has a technical issue, AI may be able to identify it and help you work through a fix. If it simply needs some visual cleanup, AI may be able to make it look better.

But what if the real problem isn’t technical or visual? What if people are visiting the website but aren’t taking the action you want them to take? AI may not know why. It can make the site prettier without addressing the problem underneath it.

That’s why, when someone comes to me with a website that needs help, I don’t immediately start changing things. I look at the technical pieces first. Then I want to know what they actually want their website to help them accomplish. Once I know that, I can look at the existing site and ask where it isn’t measuring up to that goal.

I also look at the foundations behind it — a clear audience, a defined voice, a color palette, intentional typography decisions. If some of those pieces are missing, that’s part of what needs to be addressed. Otherwise, we may just be changing what the problem looks like instead of solving it.

AI Website Builders Can Create Another Problem: What Happens Later?

There’s another part of this conversation that I don’t think gets enough attention: getting your website built is only the beginning. What happens six months from now? Or three years from now?

Before committing to an AI website builder, I’d ask many of the same questions I’d recommend asking a web designer:

  • How much control will you have over your website?
  • How easy is it to make your own changes?
  • Can you access the underlying code, especially if that’s something you know how to work with?
  • What happens if you decide you don’t like the platform anymore?
  • Can you migrate your website somewhere else, and how difficult will that be?
  • How much will it continue to cost you as your needs change?

This becomes especially important with newer AI website platforms. They may be around for years. They may become fantastic long-term platforms. But you don’t know that yet. Your website may essentially be rented space inside their ecosystem. That doesn’t automatically make it a bad choice — it just means you should understand what you’re choosing before your business becomes dependent on it.

Your Technology Choices Can Follow You

I’ve run into another version of this while building applications with AI. AI can help tremendously with development, but I’ve also encountered backend issues that weren’t right the first time. There has been testing, changes, and things that needed to be caught before launch.

You also have to understand the limitations of the technology stack being used. Not every stack works on every hosting platform. If you build something for your business today and eventually want it hosted alongside your website, the decisions being made now can determine whether that’s even possible later.

AI can help you write the code. But if you don’t know to ask where that code eventually needs to live, AI may be solving today’s request without accounting for tomorrow’s plan. That’s one of the reasons I don’t think it’s a great idea to put AI completely in charge of a complex build without a watchful eye from someone who understands what’s happening.

So Who Should Build a Website With AI?

If you’re just starting your business, AI may be a perfectly reasonable way to get something online. Your budget may be limited. You’re still learning what your business needs. Your website may not need to do very much yet. And frankly, if your website isn’t particularly important to how your business operates or attracts customers, investing heavily in it may not make sense.

But I’d still consider the hidden cost of DIY:

  • How much of your own time will it take?
  • How easy will it be to make changes?
  • What will you do when you’re completely frustrated and can’t figure out why something isn’t working?
  • Will you actually be able to create what you’re envisioning, or will you eventually settle for what the tool lets you create?

There isn’t one answer that’s right for every business. A lower upfront cost can come with more time and frustration. A professionally designed website costs more upfront, but you’re also paying for the experience and thinking behind the decisions. Those are different tradeoffs.

What You’re Actually Getting When You Hire a Web Designer

I can’t make the choice for you. You may decide that AI is exactly what you need right now. But I can tell you what changes when you work with me instead.

You’re gaining a relationship with a human. We’re building trust. I have a passion for this work, but I’m also there to strategize with you and make a plan. We can talk through whether the direction we’re taking actually matches what you envision.

And maybe more importantly, I can help when you don’t know what direction you want yet. That’s where the human relationship matters. You don’t have to know the perfect prompt. You don’t have to know every question you’re supposed to ask. Part of my job is knowing which questions need to be asked in the first place.

AI is sometimes only as smart as what it gets fed. An experienced designer can look at what you haven’t figured out yet, talk through it with you, and help turn those pieces into a direction.

Should You Use AI for Your Website?

I don’t think the choice is really AI or a web designer. I use AI as a web designer. The more useful question is: who is doing the thinking?

AI can help build. It can troubleshoot. It can generate options. It can speed up parts of the process. It can be a very useful tool.

But your website represents your business. It has a purpose beyond simply existing online. If you’re going to use AI to build or fix it yourself, make sure you’re still the one making the decisions.

Know what you’re trying to accomplish. Know what you’re giving up in exchange for convenience or lower upfront costs. Know what happens to your website later. And most importantly, don’t assume that because AI gave you an answer, it knew the right question to ask.